


coram domine et familia

by Mossgreen



Series: 2770 ab urbe condita [62]
Category: 2770 ab urbe condita - Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ancient Rome, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, Fictional Religion & Theology, Gen, Religion, Slavery, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-23
Updated: 2019-11-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:20:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21528973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mossgreen/pseuds/Mossgreen
Summary: Moss has recently joined the household of Drusus Varius Metellus, but he needs to be introduced to the household gods to truly be a member of the household.
Series: 2770 ab urbe condita [62]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1059413
Comments: 18
Kudos: 26
Collections: 2770 ab urbe condita - the collected fiction





	coram domine et familia

**Author's Note:**

> Please note that the religious ceremony of 'submissiō' described here is made up out of whole cloth as an invented tradition dating back to some time in the 26th century ab urbe condita (our nineteenth century). I have no idea at all whether such a thing ever existed. Details such as covering the head when conducting a religious ceremony are taken from real historical fact, though.
> 
> I was inspired to create this by [this entry on domestic religion](https://2770auc.dreamwidth.org/1238.html) written in the 2770auc Dreamwidth community by Imperial_Dragon.

It was easy enough to fall into the household routine, and the house, while large, was not complicated enough in its layout for anyone to get lost. Moss came to the conclusion within the first week or so that it was a house of four quarters, more or less. There was the public area, centred around the atrium, with the small library (that must have been a bedroom once), and the guest bedroom with its little en-suite bathroom and shower cubicle. The master’s large bedroom was next to that, with a slightly more private door because it opened off the narrow corridor running along past the tablīnum to the double door which opened to the peristylīum around the garden. The other family bedrooms opened off the colonnade here - the pretty blue-and-white bedroom that was the daughter’s, then the more adult version in cream, dark red and dark blue that had been the mistress’ (and still was when she visited). The last room was done out in dark masculine black and grey, with a stunning rug in shades of orange, and Moss was told that this was the room of the young master who was away in India with his legion. Then there was a store-room, that had also been converted from a cubiculum years ago, then the garden door to the street. 

Then the room Icarus used as a shed was tucked into the corner of the house, out of the way facing the blank wall of the store-room. Next to it was the summer trīclīnium, then the training room which faced the tablīnum along the length of the garden, and next to that was the winter trīclīnium, which had proper underfloor heating and everything. Then there was an alcove, the exedra, with benches, then the door to the kitchen, then the bifold doors back to the main hallway. If you turned left there, you’d pass the main latrines (that were really only used by visitors because every bedroom had an en-suite) and the door to the apodytērium. If you went through that, you’d end up faced with two doors - the one on the right went to the little home gym that was mainly used by the slaves (the master did his exercising when he went to one of the thermae in the afternoons). The other door would take you through into the balnea - the tepidārium, caldārium and lastly the frīgidārium with its pool, and from there you’d end up back in the apodytērium. 

Then you could go back to the vast black-and-white tiled expanse of the atrium, with the implūvium and the two distinct seating areas there (one for conversation and one for those who wanted to watch TV - there was the most enormous TV on the wall, with proper surround-sound speakers and everything). There was a third area with seating but that was more formal and not so comfortable-looking - a backless sofa against the tablīnum wall and two backless seats opposite it.

The master’s study opened to both the atrium and the garden and was where he worked when he wasn’t in the office (or in the training room recording one of his videos with Ven).

The last quarter of the house’s footprint was taken up by the slave quarters. They almost had their own atrium, although it had a ceiling and no implūvium - the hallway was very wide indeed, for an area of the house that was just for the slaves. The latrine and shower areas were communal but that was nothing new, with glass doors that were, thankfully, frosted rather than clear. The floors were bright white tile and the walls of the shower area were also tiled in white, although the end of the room nearest the door was painted in a dark blue that somewhat lessened the glare. Every room in the house had an accent wall in a different colour - even in the slave quarters, all apart from the slave latrines. 

All the floors were tiled or marble (or plain stone, in the slave quarters) which meant that they were easy to clean, with rugs in most rooms to delineate areas, or just for a bit of relief or colour. There were potted plants in almost every room, with several scattered throughout the atrium, breaking up the wide expanse of floor and giving it a visual interest as well as making it more homely. All the plants had to be watered regularly, of course, but there was a rotation system for doing it which meant that they all got done through the week and nobody had to carry a watering can for hours at a time.

It was, overall, one of the best presented houses Moss had ever seen, and that that carried over to the slave quarters surely proved it was down to Willow that it remained so well-kept.

The duties weren’t hard, either, not really - the most boring duty was standing in the atrium all day just in case there was an errand to run that Master didn't want to send Ven on for whatever reason.

Apart from the boredom that came from standing doing nothing, Moss didn't mind atrium duty very much. It was the biggest room in the house, by a long way, and gave a glimpse of sky through the complūvium, the opening above the implūvium. The black and white floor was offset by the vibrant red of the walls and the greenery of the plants scattered around. 

The downside was that the atrium was where Master spent most of his time when he was at home, and usually he had Ven with him, kneeling by the side of his sofa. Moss tried not to mind when Master made Ven warm his cock, or suck him off - they were only slaves, it didn’t matter what they thought about being inadvertent witnesses to such sexual acts.

It was possible to watch the news in the evening while Master had it on, if you were careful about it and didn't let your interest show too obviously. There was something to be said for being continuously present around free people; they had a tendency not to see you even when you were in the room, unless you did something obvious to draw their attention. 

Moss was too well-trained to draw attention to himself; that first time had been simply bad luck and nervousness - both in not wanting to look like a slacker, and then in actually serving his new master’s guests at dinner for the first time when he was still settling into the house.

* * *

He had been in the house for three months when he woke early one morning with a frisson of nervousness. He was not on front-of-house duty today, and lay still, listening to the quiet movements of one of the others - Chrestus, probably, judging by where the sounds were coming from - as he got up and pulled his tunic on before making his way to the dormitory door to go and begin the day's work in the kitchen.

Today's routine was different from normal, because while the larārium would be dusted this morning, the offering would be left until later. 

Moss rose and washed and dressed with the others, turning to his chores for the day - watering the plants in the trīclīnia and the spare bedrooms (the plants in the atrium, bibliothēca and Master's room would be done by one of today's front-of-house slaves).

Master's clients came to see him this morning, as they did every week. The salūtātiō did not last very long, no more than an hour or two, with Ven making appointments for later in the week for those who wished to have a longer conversation with Master about business, or for personal advice. The last of the clients left by midmorning, and then Willow came to tell Moss to change into a livery tunic.

He did so and then went to the ablution block to wash his hands and face, glancing up as Junio came in.

"You know this is a recent tradition, don't you?" his fellow slave told him as he combed his hair and squinted at his reflection in the mirror.

"Is it? That doesn't make me feel any less nervous," Moss said, meeting his eyes in the mirror. "I haven’t really done a formal submissiō before, you know."

"I'm sure they had this sort of thing before, but it's only a few hundred years old in this form. There's always been Lares, though." Junio finished his business, flushed, and came to wash his hands. 

"It's not really _them_ I'm worried about," Moss replied, putting his comb away.

Junio dried his hands and grinned, patting Moss on the shoulder. "You'll be all right, it's not as bad as you think - and it'll be lunch time before you know it."

"I didn’t even think Master was particularly religious."

"He’s not, really, but likes to set an example. Anyway, it’s only good manners, to show the Lares and Penates that you belong to this house. You never know, after all."

Moss gave him a wan smile as they left the room, turning right to go through the swing door into the atrium, where the other slaves were waiting, with Master, who was wearing his toga. Junio pushed him forward to where Willow was standing, likewise now in his livery tunic. He looked good in the dark red, though it had been chosen to suit Ven's colouring. Ven himself was standing back a little, next to Grumio, who had taken off his apron but otherwise made no adjustment to his normal clothing.

"Master, this is Moss, who wishes to come under your protection and the protection of your household gods," Willow said, the formal words sounding strange in Moss' ears as he pushed him gently forwards towards their master. "Will you accept him into your familia as your slave?"

"I will." 

Moss took a breath and knelt. This part of the ceremony had been deliberately designed (or had evolved!) to evoke the far older formal ceremony of manūmissiō which was performed in front of a magistrate.

Master held a rod out to Moss - he recognised it as being a cane, taken from the training room.

"Do you submit to me as my slave, Moss?"

"I do - Master." He bent forward to kiss the cane before bending his head so that Master could pass it over him, evoking another ancient ceremony, that of passing under the yoke.

"I accept you into my familia as my slave," Master said, handing the cane to someone who then held out a plate with a roll on it. He tore a piece from the roll and held it to Moss’ mouth. Moss obediently opened his mouth and accepted it, chewing and swallowing before Master signalled him to stand up.

Master pulled a fold of his toga over his head before reaching to where the shawls were hanging, ready for those who were to take part in household devotions. He took one of the plain linen ones down and passed it to Moss, who carefully draped it over his head before master and slave turned to the larārium itself, stepping into the marble area that delineated the sacred area around it.

"Gods of my household, this is my slave Moss who has come under my authority, discipline and protection, having eaten food from my hand. I implore that you protect him as you do me, for I claim him as part of my familia." Master’s voice was very sure, and Moss glanced sideways at him. Nothing he had ever heard or seen in this house suggested that Master was particularly religious, unless you counted the occasional offerings left to Priapus’ statue in the garden.

Someone passed Moss a plate with today’s offering on it, and Master pushed him gently towards the shrine itself. It had been cleaned earlier, all that needed doing was for the offering to be replenished.

Moss swallowed. He had been perfectly truthful when he’d told Junio earlier that he’d never taken part in anything as formal as this; he’d read about it, but never even seen this sort of submissiō before (well, sort of, on TV, but they never showed the whole thing there - even television weddings were pretty much cut down to ‘ubi Gaius, ego Gaia’.)

"Gods of my master’s house, may it please you to accept this offering from me and extend me the protection of this familia." Moss' mouth was dry but he managed to get the words out anyway before setting the plate on the shelf of the shrine, in front of the bronze dancing figures that represented the Lares, and the rough stone heads which were for the Penates. He took the small jar of oil to replenish the lantern with the household Vestal flame, concentrating hard so as not to spill anything - he had never done this with an audience, much less in front of his master.

He set the jar back in its place and breathed a silent sigh of relief as his master spoke again, addressing the slaves rather than the household deities. "You may all be dismissed for prandium. Ven, wait a moment."

Moss stepped back, careful to be completely out of the marble larārium zone before he reached to remove the shawl covering his hair and return it to its hook.

Master had likewise bared his head again, and was talking with Ven as Moss joined the others in returning to the slave quarters. He didn’t _feel_ any different, now that he was officially (religiously?) part of the household - even though anyone who cared would consider that he’d joined the household on the day Willow had bought him at the market.

"Told you it wouldn’t be so bad," Junio told him as they passed through the double doors into the slave corridor.

Moss elbowed him. "Felt a million times worse - I’m glad it’s over! You have no idea how nervous I was."

Junio rolled his eyes. "Oh, yes I do! Come on, it’s dormouse soup, I think - just for a treat."

**Author's Note:**

> Translations:  
> coram domine et familia - (title) in the presence of the master and household  
> tablīnum - study/office used by the master of the house  
> peristylīum - colonnade around a courtyard or garden  
> cubiculum - bedroom  
> trīclīnium (pl trīclīnia) - formal dining room, with three couches arranged around a central table. Roman diners ate reclining on their left arm.  
> exedra - alcove with a bench looking onto a garden  
> apodytērium - changing room  
> thermae - public baths  
> balnea - private baths  
> tepidārium - warm room of a bath-house  
> caldārium - hot room of a bath-house  
> frīgidārium - cold room of a bath-house  
> implūvium - shallow pool in the atrium, with an opening (the complūvium) in the ceiling/roof above it, through which rainwater enters the implūvium  
> larārium - household shrine to the Lares and Penates, the gods responsible for protecting the home and its storerooms, with a lamp representing Vesta, the goddess of the hearth and hospitality  
> bibliothēca - library  
> salūtātiō - formal morning greeting or levee, where the master’s clients would come to greet their patron  
> submissiō - formal ceremony of submission to a new master and his household gods. (Warning: This was invented out of whole cloth for this story, I have no idea whether such a ceremony ever existed in Ancient Rome - I am presuming this to have been invented in the 19th century!)  
> familia - family, household (this encompassed the slaves of the household, not just the members of the household who were related to the master)  
> manūmissiō - formal manumission ceremony, literally meaning ‘sending out from the hand’  
> ubi Gaius, ego Gaia - Roman wedding vow, spoken by the bride, meaning simply ‘where you are Gaius, I am Gaia’ - where you are the husband, I am the wife.  
> prandium - lunch
> 
> The reference to 'passing under the yoke' refers to a ritual humiliation Romans inflicted on captured enemies, in which they were stripped and made to pass under a yoke made from spears ([see here](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passum_sub_iugum) and - if I've managed to grab the link properly on my phone! - [here](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/14/5b/e2/145be25428ed1d0fcf69a86926ad1b7b.jpg))


End file.
